Marauder
by Advent of Shadows
Summary: After years of imprisonment in the Phantom Zone, Harry Potter finds that the world as he knew it is gone. After fifteen years of life or death struggles, can he adapt to a peaceful life now that Voldemort and his followers are long gone, or will he find a new purpose and become something more?
1. Prologue

Summary: After years of imprisonment in the Phantom Zone, Harry Potter finds that the world as he knew it is gone. After fifteen years of life or death struggles, can he adapt to a peaceful life now that Voldemort and his followers are long gone, or will he find a new purpose and become something more?

* * *

**0. ****Freedom**

Bright green eyes opened to the soft sound of distant footsteps upon hard rock.

Before he was sent here, he would have never woken so easily to such a thing, but the Phantom Zone had changed him.

Within moments of waking, he could already tell that a group of four was nearby- a fact that was confirmed upon peering through the opening of the cave he had taken shelter in so long ago.

In the Phantom Zone, time was meaningless. The hands of his watch did not move, frozen by the timeless prison the moment that he had been cast into the hellish desert by Death herself.

"Raya," he whispered to himself, his voice sounding unfamiliar to his own ears. He could not believe his eyes as he saw one of the few denizens of the Phantom Zone that he had come into contact with.

Raya was the assistant of the creator of the Phantom Zone, and it had been her that taught him everything he knew about the place. Like him, she had committed no crime to be sentenced to the Phantom Zone, instead having been sent there so that she could survive certain death. As such, it seemed strange to see her in the company of others.

Without hesitating, he grabbed his cloak of demiguise hair, wrapped it around his form, and departed the cave. Catching up to the group without being detected was not an easy matter, but it was well within his abilities.

Just as he managed to get within earshot of the group, he heard a masculine voice come from one of her companions.

"The others will be here soon."

As if that was not foreboding enough, he could see that one of their companions was being forced to walk. Unlike the others, he was dressed in clothes that seemed to be of Earth origin. He would have looked perfectly in place out in the country.

He did not, for one moment, entertain the thought that Raya would on the side of the others that accompanied her. His instincts were telling him that she was protecting that normal looking young man.

Thinking carefully, he tried to figure out where they could have been headed, but the only thing that he knew of in the area was some kind of strange altar that he had found when exploring the area near the cave. It did seem to have a function though. He had studied for ages but to no avail.

In the end, it seemed that the altar was the group's destination. As they reached it, Raya's companion was thrown to the ground by the other man. The words that accompanied the action made his body tense.

"Open the gateway."

The idea that the altar was the way out of the Phantom Zone had occurred to him before, but he had given up hope of such a thing ages ago. Apparently, he had just lacked the key to doing it.

"He doesn't know how," Raya said, shaking her head. "But I do. Give me the knife."

It was with a satisfied smirk that the man handed the knife over to Raya.

"It needs blood… blood of the House of El. It is the key to the gateway," Raya continued as she held the knife in her hands.

"I trusted you," her downed companion all but whispered.

"Trust is for the week," the other man sneered at him.

"You're right," Raya said, swiftly cutting the man's throat. It only took a few moments for him to die. "Kal-El, run to the gateway!"

She had no time to say anymore as the last member of the group tried to attack her, but his eyes were not on that fight. From previous experience, he knew that Raya would win. She was armed and had considerable skill in hand-to-hand combat.

Instead of even thinking about assisting her, he chosen to be a little selfish and made his way towards the altar, following the young man known as Kal-El.

Just out of the corner of his eye, he made a grim observation. He was not the only person following Kal-El to the altar. Several prisoners were making their way to it as well, phantom and corporeal alike.

He did not have time to think on the matter too much, however, as Kal-El reached the altar and placed a blood covered hand on the altar.

Instantly, a pillar of light formed where the altar was. Within moments, everyone caught within the pillar's range disappeared from the Phantom Zone.

After eight years, Harry James Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived and the Vanquisher of Voldemort, had escaped the Phantom Zone.

* * *

Author's Note: I've finally managed to get this out. This is the start to the rewrite of Harry Potter and the Rise of Emrys & Harry Potter and the Justice League Dark. Given my severe writer's block with all my anime-based fanfiction and the fact that I grew to dislike certain aspects of the original story, I made the decision to write this three or four months ago. After at least thirty attempts at this chapter, I've finally gotten it to a point where I actually like it. First chapters area always a pain for me to write though.

Now, unlike the normal way I operate, I have no intentions of removing the original stories that this is a rewrite of. As such, to separate this from the originals, I named it Marauder

Anyways, thanks for readings.


	2. Starting Over

**1. Starting Over**

It had been a month since the day known as Dark Thursday had come to pass. A month since Harry Potter had escaped the Phantom Zone with the unwitting assistance of Kal-El.

In spite of that, Harry Potter was still dead, as far as the Wizarding World knew. In fact, only the goblins knew differently.

He had originally intended on meeting with Kingsley Shacklebolt, the Minister for Magic, and revealing his continued survival, but that plan had gone out the window fairly quickly.

It seemed that he no longer had a place in the Wizarding World. In his absence, it seemed that they had strived for peace and equality. The age of pureblood supremacy was long over, and only minor conflicts had arisen since his disappearance. Those conflicts had quickly been resolved thanks to Shacklebolt's well funded Auror Department.

After seeing the state of the Wizarding World, he had made the decision to adopt a wait and see approach. What he saw both relieved and saddened him.

His best friends seemed to be doing fairly well. According to the Daily Prophet, Hermione and Ron had been married for a few years after his disappearance, and though they split up, it had been a fairly peaceful split. Now, Hermione was an Unspeakable, while Ron was the Head of the Auror Department.

Apart from her profession, Harry had found nothing else about Hermione, though she looked happy enough the few times he saw her in Diagon Alley from underneath his invisibility cloak.

Ron, on the other hand, had remarried since the divorce and now had a child with Lavender Brown.

Two of his other friends had also married after his disappearance, but they had better luck together than his best friends had. Those friends were Neville Longbottom and Ginny Weasley. They already had a son, who Ginny watched while Neville taught as Hogwarts. That was not to say that she had become her mother though. She was actually the Senior Quidditch Correspondent for the Daily Planet.

Of his closest friends, the only one that he was unable to find out much about was Luna Lovegood. She had taken to traveling the world after his disappearance and was said to be studying magical creatures abroad, but that was all that he could find out. As far as he could tell, she had not been to England in at least five years.

He had saved for last the one person he wanted to find out about the most, and it was the only thing that did not bring any measure of relief to him.

It seemed that in his absence, his godson had passed away. Andromeda Tonks had come down with a case of dragon pox when he was only a couple years old, and Teddy had managed to catch it. Neither of them had survived it.

Teddy's death hit him particularly hard. To say that he felt that he failed as a godfather was an understatement. He knew that it was unlikely that he could have done anything to save him, but logic was not necessary when one blamed himself.

Upon realizing that he no longer had a place in the Wizarding World and had no reason to stick around, he had visited the goblins.

With their help, he had become Harry Evans. Without any of the scars that Harry Potter had accrued and having perfect vision, both of which had been achieved through the use of phoenix tears, only his closest friends could have recognized him now.

It was unlikely that they would have a chance to recognize him now though. The goblins had also arranged for his new identity to be a naturalized citizen of the United States of America.

Even though Magical England was truly showing itself as a beacon of peace and equality, their relationship with the United States was bad enough that no wizards or witches made the trip across the pond. Years of purebloods referring to the United States as _the colonies_ had rubbed them the wrong way.

In all honesty, Harry had no idea what he was going to do with his life now that he was in the United States under an assumed name. He had only planned things out far enough to leaving England. After fifteen years of life or death conflicts, he knew that he was not ready for a peaceful life yet. Even after a month of being away from the Phantom Zone, he still woke every morning with a blade in hand.

Harry was broken from his thoughts as he heard a clicking sound.

Glancing over his shoulder, he saw that there was a man a dozen feet behind him with a revolver in his hand.

"Hand over your wallet, and I might let you live," the man said in a threatening tone, the barrel of the revolver shaking ever so slightly.

Harry merely raised an eyebrow, unconcerned about the weapon's appearance. His reflexes were sharp enough that the weapon posed little danger to him. If a shot had been fired when the man's footprints had been obscured by the sound of cars and machinery, Harry could have easily been hurt.

Before he had a chance to even turn around, however, someone decided to intervene.

A figure dropped down from above and knocked out the attempted mugger with a single hit to the back of the head. Almost as quickly as it had appeared, the figure had used some kind of device to engulf his form in smoke and disappeared again.

The whole incident took close to fifteen seconds. It happened so fast that it would have been difficult for most people to process, but Harry was not most people. He knew what just happened.

He had just been _saved_ by the Batman.

Granted, he was never in any real danger, but the supposed urban legend that he had heard rumors of since arriving in Gotham City had actually stopped the attempted mugging.

In the mere seconds between knocking out the man that tried to mug him and using the smoke device on his belt, Harry had gotten a clear look at the supposed urban legend. Where he had gotten the name was clear to Harry. With a large bat emblem upon his chest and what resembled bat ears extending up from his cowl, it was fairly obvious.

The sound of police sirens in the distance broke him from his train of thought, and he started walking away a bit faster. He had no desire to talk to the police about the attempted mugging. Especially when he had something else that he wished to occupy his time with.

He had originally dismissed the rumors of a masked man waging a one-man war on crime, but now that he knew the truth, he found his curiosity piqued.

As his friends knew quite well, Harry was a very curious person and stopped at nothing to get answers when his interest was truly piqued.

* * *

A week later, Harry's search had proved fruitful, but not in the way he had expected. This mystery, unlike others, was definitely not an adventure for him. In fact, he had spent much of his time going through old newspaper articles.

Though he did learn more about Batman through his investigation, he had ended up more questions than answers.

He never once tried to figure out who Batman was, not really caring who the man really was. But he was able to figure out that the man had been active for five years. The urban legend of Batman had been formed in 2001. The way he could disappear the moment a person's eyes left him had only solidified in the minds of criminals that he was no man.

And yet, the Gotham Police Department definitely believed that Batman was a real person. In fact, he had heard rumors that the newly elected Police Commissioner, one James Gordon, had connections with Batman.

It was difficult to find out any specifics about Batman just from newspaper articles, but his attention had shifted when he realized that Batman was not the only masked vigilante out there.

In fact, he just so happened to stumble upon a somewhat recent issue of the Metropolis Inquisitor that spoke of a man called _Green Arrow_. At first glance, he merely looked like a modern day Robin Hood, but if one only looked hard enough, they would realize that for quite some time before he appeared in Metropolis, _Green Arrow_ had operated in Star City.

Though he had not been given a moniker in Star City, Green Arrow had been responsible for lowering the crime rate quite a bit. It still had the second highest crime rate in the United States, but he had definitely been a positive force for the city.

Much to his surprise, he also found that Green Arrow was not the first vigilante to operate in Metropolis. Earlier in the year, a woman called _the Angel of Vengeance_ had worked as a masked vigilante in Metropolis, ruthlessly dealing with the criminals of Suicide Slums. After she attacked Lionel Luthor, she had disappeared though. It was likely for the best too. Attacking billionaire businessmen was a good way to become wanted by the police.

After he knew what to look for, Harry had begun to find other signs of vigilantes. Unlike Batman, Green Arrow, and the Angel of Vengeance, however, they managed to stay out of the spotlight and did not even have a moniker. He had found signs of these vigilantes from as far back as the seventies.

He was not even sure how to find out more about the more unknown vigilantes. He knew everything about them that he could find out from public information, even if that was not much.

What he did know, however, was that his time in Gotham City had come to an end. There was nothing more to be gained from staying.

It was while he was getting everything ready to leave Gotham City that he heard a knock at the door of his hotel room.

Opening the door, he found a dark skinned man that looked to be in his forties on the other side. With his short hair, leather jacket, tucked in dress shirt, and jeans, the man looked relatively normal, but Harry felt his muscles tense the moment he laid eyes on the main.

"Can I help you?" Harry asked politely, preparing to unleash some wandless magic at any moment.

"I would prefer to speak of the matter in private, if that is okay with you."

"Come on in," Harry answered with a nod as he stepped to the side.

The moment that he shut the door, the man looked at him carefully. "My name is J'onn J'onzz."

"You're the Martian Manhunter," Harry said, startled by the revelation.

"I am," J'onn J'onzz confirmed. "And I require your help with a certain matter, Harry Potter."

Despite the fact that the man before him even knew his real name, Harry actually felt the tension leave his body. There was only one way the Martian Manhunter could have known his name.

Raya had managed to escape from the Phantom Zone.

* * *

Author's Note: I must say, I am liking the reception thus far. I didn't realize so many people would be this excited about it. My past rewrites never seemed to be too popular, but this is a completely different fandom than what I've done rewrites on in the past.

Anyways, this chapter ended up being a thousand words short of my goal, but it felt like I was just dragging the chapter out when I tried to lengthen it. I intend to work on getting my chapters longer even when I don't have too much to cover, but it'll take some time. I'm a bit out of practice, unfortunately.

Thanks again for reading and reviewing this story. I appreciate your input.


	3. Reunion

**2. Reunion**

Those who knew him well believed that Harry simply loved flying.

That was a misconception.

Sure, he loved riding a broom and did not mind certain other forms of flight, such as thestral or flying motorcycle. However, he was not too fond of flying on the back of a hippogriff, and dragons certainly were no better.

Neither creature quite compared to airplanes though. And he meant that quite literally. There was absolutely no comparison. While hippogriffs and dragons were uncomfortable, airplanes were comfortable but boring. He did not feel the rush as he flew through the air.

Unfortunately, as he had never been to Metropolis before, he needed to get on a plane to fly there from Gotham City.

If he had not been needed there immediately, he would have bought a car and driven the distance. He definitely had enough money to buy one. He had divided his fortune between the magical and muggle worlds with half still in Gringotts, a quarter in a muggle bank, and the last quarter in a mokeskin pouch that the goblins had provided him.

When he found out exactly how much money he had, he was glad that the goblins did not share any information with third parties. He hated to imagine what would have happened if anyone had realized that there was no heir to his fortune of six billion galleons before he escaped the Phantom Zone.

His money came in handy after he left the airport. Getting the sixty miles from Metropolis to the smaller city of Smallville would have normally been problematic. His disillusionment needed some work before he felt comfortable flying a broom under its effects, and he had never learned how to drive. A thousand dollars was enough to convince a cab driver to take him to Smallville though.

The taxi dropped him off at his destination- the Kent Farm.

Even as he made his way down the driveway, he thought about what he was going to say. J'onn J'onzz had asked him to make no mention of him. Apparently Kal-El, or Clark Kent as he went by, was not supposed to know about J'onn at the moment.

He was broken from his thoughts as a man was sent crashing through the wall of the barn up ahead.

Eyes widened, he rushed towards the figure, having recognized him as he flew through the wall. It was Kal-El.

Barely halfway to Kal-El, he saw someone else get knocked through another wall of the barn. With his eyes, he was easily able to tell that it was not Raya. Yet, he had managed to get a brief glimpse of the female Kryptonian through the hole Kal-El formed in the wall.

Drawing his wand, he quickly and silently apparated.

He appeared next to the second man, a young man with dark skin. Without a moment of hesitation, he shot a non-verbal stunner at the young man as he started to rise to his feet. The moment it made contact, he dropped to the ground, unconscious.

Harry was not satisfied there though. He magically bound the young man just to be on the safe side.

Just as he finished binding him, Harry saw Kal-El and Raya reach him using super speed.

"Harry, is that you?" Raya asked in surprise. Without his glasses or scar, it seemed that even she had trouble recognizing him at first.

"Raya, do you know this guy?" Kal-El asked with a frown.

"I'm Harry Evans, and you could say I'm a friend of Raya's," Harry said.

"I do," Raya confirmed, offering a soft smile to Harry. "We met in the Phantom Zone years ago. He's from Earth."

"We met not long after I arrived, so it almost eight years ago," Harry added. "I didn't even know aliens existed until I met Raya."

Kal-El shuddered, no doubt imagining what it would have been like to spend eight years there.

Composing himself, the Son of El asked, "How did you take that guy down so easily?"

"Magic," Harry answered with a mysterious smile.

* * *

After Raya used a special crystal to banish the phantom to the Phantom Zone, Harry had gotten the chance to sit down and talk with Kal-El and Raya a bit more.

Naturally, that had involved him explaining to Kal-El that he was a wizard. It had taken little effort to convince him though. Apparently, Kal-El had encountered magic before.

Before any questions about where Harry had obtained his skills arose, Kal-El and Raya had left the Kent Farm on an errand. Apparently, one of Kal-El's friends had learned above a Kryptonian device in the hands of a human. From what he knew of Kryptonian technology, Harry was not too fond of the idea of any human possessing it. Seeing as how they were simply going to super speed to the device, destroy it, and leave before they were seen, Harry had opted to stay at the Kent Farm. Seeing as how he was a friend of Raya's, Kal-El had invited him to stay.

While the Kryptonians were away, Harry decided to get some sleep. Jetlag was a pain, even if the time change was minimal.

It was not in his nature to sleep long though. Around midnight, Harry woke and left the guest room.

Walking into the kitchen, he noticed that Raya was up as well.

"Couldn't sleep?" Harry asked as he took a seat at the table.

"Under the effects of the yellow sun, Kryptonians do not need sleep," she replied, shaking her head. "Kal-El only thinks he needs sleep because he was raised as a human."

"I'd hate to have to fight a Kryptonian. It would be a bloody nightmare," Harry remarked. J'onn had told him what kind of powers Kal-El had before he left Gotham City, but that was not one that he had been made aware of. "Third time would be the charm too."

"I would avoid mentioning that to anyone," Raya told him cautiously. "A man that has died twice, only to return to the world of the living each time… few would know how to react to that."

"The next time I die, it will be permanent," Harry replied gravely. "The last time, I had to bargain with Death herself. I'm all out of bargaining chips now. Even if I wasn't, I don't think I'd try to make another deal anyways. Last time, she tricked me and I spent eight years in the Phantom Zone for it."

"Perhaps she took exception to your title as Master of Death," Raya mused.

That was certainly one title that Harry no longer had a claim to. The title had been stripped from him when he turned over the Hallows to Death in return for allowing him to return to the world of the living from Limbo.

"Regardless of the reason, I'd prefer to stay as far away from her as possible," Harry said, shaking his head.

"I'm surprised to see you here after all the stories you told me before we were separated," Raya admitted suddenly.

"Things have changed too much for me to return," Harry confessed. "I'm going to start over here with a new identity."

"That explains the different appearance," Raya noted, looking at him thoughtfully.

"What do you plan to do here on Earth?" Harry asked curiously.

"I plan to guide Kal-El and help him embrace his destiny. Once that is done, I am unsure what I will do. It is difficult to adapt to such a foreign world," Raya answered. A thoughtful look surfaced in her eyes suddenly. "How did you find us today?"

"J'onn gave me directions," Harry replied, seeing no reason to tell her anything but the truth. "He asked me to look after you two in his absence."

"There will be no need to do so any longer."

Turning, Harry saw J'onn J'onzz in the room. "I had no choice but to be absent today, but I am back. Until I get a lead on the last phantom, I will be staying too."

"It is a good thing that you asked Harry to come here," Raya noted. "If Baern had learned that the Brain Interactive Construct's power core was here in town, he may have been able to kill Kal-El or myself. Fortunately, he was taken out before then."

"I had a feeling that you would need help," J'onn said. "Thank you for helping them, Harry Potter. I was not sure what help you could provide when I approached you, but Raya spoke highly of you when we met. It came as a relief to see that she was right about you."

"I'd do anything to help a friend," Harry replied with determination in his eyes. "I do have to wonder though… is it really a good idea to be talking about all this in a house with someone who has super hearing?"

"With my telepathy, I can tell that Kal-El is still in a deep sleep. I would not have showed myself otherwise," J'onn told him, waving off his concern.

Hearing the Martian Manhunter so casually refer to his mind reading ability unnerved Harry, but he did his best to push it aside. Telepathy was a rather minor thing when it came down to it. Compared to his own abilities, Harry was aware of how powerful Kryptonians and Martians were. The only way he could have even stood a chance in a fight against either was if he managed to get a sneak attack in. With the right spellwork, he could sneak up on a Kryptonian, after all. And it seemed that magic bypassed Kryptonian invulnerability.

There was a little more conversation between the three, but they parted ways before too much longer.

* * *

By sunrise, Harry had already left the Kent Farm and was back in Metropolis. A silent apparition coupled with a disillusionment charm let him reach the city effortlessly. An apparition of sixty miles would have been difficult for some wizards, but Harry had always been a powerful wizard. Not the most skilled around, but powerful to be sure.

His departure from the Kent Farm had, in part, been the result of no longer needing to keep an eye on Kal-El and Raya. But there was more to it than that. He needed time and space to think. His eyes had been opened by recent events.

Learning about people like Batman and Green Arrow, who were just regular people that gave their all to protect people, was one thing. Learning about Kal-El was a completely different matter though. He basically had the power of a god and used it to save people without anyone so much as seeing him. There was no doubt that he had saved the world after he escaped the Phantom Zone back in September.

In Kal-El, Harry saw something that made him look at himself. Wizardkind, for all their power, spent their many years only concerned about themselves and their society. Even the more tolerant attitude that the Wizarding World had adopted was limited to beings of magic. Muggles were beneath their notice for the most part.

Kal-El had rekindled something within Harry that he had long thought gone- his desire to help.

Over in England, using magic to protect a muggle from a non-magical threat was a serious enough crime to be sent to Azkaban for a year.

That was something that was commonly accepted as a necessity to maintain the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy.

In Harry's eyes, it was wrong that someone could be punished for protecting the innocent. To have such power and not use it for the betterment of the world… it just sounded wrong to him.

Yet, he knew that before he met Kal-El, he agreed with those practices. The Kryptonian was a beacon of hope and reminded Harry of the ideals that he held deep in his heart.

To use his powers for the good of others… that was an idea that truly appealed to Harry. It was fortunate that the United States did not uphold the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy due to them not being part of the International Confederation of Wizards. Like other American wizards, Harry had no intention of outright revealing the existence of magic to the world, but it did allow him to use his powers a bit more freely.

He needed to think more about how he would do that first though. Harry was no longer the type of person that acted without thinking, after all. For now, he was occupying his time with another matter.

Harry had no intention of leaving the area anytime soon. Being nearby would also allow him to provide Kal-El and Raya any assistance that they might need. His skill set was very different from theirs but no less useful, even if they had raw power.

Since he was going to be staying in the area for a while, Harry had started working on arrangements. His first task had been to get an apartment in Metropolis. And his second task had been to acquire a warehouse in the shadiest part of the city, an area known as Suicide Slums.

The warehouse was on the small side, though an Undetectable Extension Charm ensured that the inside was more than large enough for his intentions.

As much as it galled him to admit it, Harry was actually a relatively untrained wizard. He was a Hogwarts drop-out and was only an average student in most of his classes.

As such, the warehouse had a simple purpose. It was to be a place where he could train and study. Within just a few hours, an entire wall of the warehouse was covered in bookshelves. On the shelves, numerous tomes of magic could be found, ranging from standard Hogwarts text books to tomes of the most advanced magic. The goblins had managed to get him just about any kind of spell book that he would find useful.

"This will do," Harry said under his breath as he looked around. The warehouse was not the most organized place, with the bookshelves along a single wall and the rest of the space all but barren. He did not intend for it to be a place to entertain guests though. He was the only one that was supposed to set foot inside the place. One of the protective spells on the warehouse was actually a Muggle Repelling Charm, ensuring that no one could even accidently wander in the place.

"It's a start, at least," he mused.

* * *

Author's Note: And there's another chapter down. Not too pleased with it. A bit too passive for my tastes, but after several attempts, this was the best result I came up with.

Just in case anyone is curious about the various heroes in this world, the two longest operating superheroes of the current generation are Batman and the Green Lantern. Going with canon Smallville, Bruce Wayne became Batman at the age of 20 in 2001, and John Stewart has been the Green Lantern of Earth since at least 2002.

With that, I'm signing off. Thanks for reading and reviewing.


	4. Marauder

**3. Marauder**

Nearly two months had passed since Harry had first come to Smallville. During that time, he had found himself far busier than he had expected. So much, in fact, that he had barely seen Clark or Raya since the incident with Baern.

There was no doubt that the time was well spent either. The streets of Metropolis had not been so safe since the eighties. Even so, no one was aware that there was a hooded vigilante prowling the streets.

After seeing Batman and his methods, Harry had decided that he was not ready to step into the light. Because of that, he regularly wiped the memories of anyone who saw him take down criminals. From there, he either gave an anonymous tip to the police or magically compelled the criminals to turn themselves in.

When Harry was not prowling the streets dealing with criminals, he was honing his abilities. After seeing what Kryptonians and Martians could do, he had resolved to become the best that he could possibly be. There was only so much he could improve on his own, but he liked to think that he had made some substantial progress.

At the present, he was just finishing up his patrol for the night. It had proved to be a fairly calm night in Metropolis. With that other hooded vigilante around, the city was definitely more manageable.

"Any reason you're following me, Arrow?" Harry asked, coming to a complete stop.

"You're pretty good," the Green Arrow remarked as he stepped out of an alleyway. His signature green leather suit made him rather easy to see.

"What do you want?" Harry asked, not interested in flattery.

"I wanted to talk to you about an employment opportunity, actually," Arrow admitted. "Do you have a name I can call you by?"

"I don't need a job, but thanks anyways," Harry said as he began to walk away. "But you can call me Marauder. I'm sure we'll meet again."

Before his eyes, the Green Arrow saw Harry disappear into nothingness.

Silent apparition was a very useful talent.

* * *

The exchange between Harry and the Green Arrow did not go unnoticed. Seated at her desk in a secret facility known as _the Castle_, a woman by the name of Amanda Waller watched the exchange a few days later. A security camera had managed to catch the scene. It was unfortunate that the camera did not record audio, but it was enough to pique her interest.

"What is a wizard doing in Metropolis?" she mused as she saw him disapparate. There had been rumors of bizarre occurrences in the city lately that hinted at something capable of causing memory loss and mind control, but she had not considered that a wizard was at work. With its close proximity to Smallville, the meteor infected were typically the causes of such strange events.

Pressing the intercom at her desk, she said, "I need Agent Weasley in my office at once."

Once she released the button, she leaned back in her chair and waited.

Not five minutes later, the agent that she requested stepped into her office. That agent's name was Percy Weasley. Though he was originally from England, he had joined Checkmate as a consultant. Over time, his position shifted from that of consultant to a full agent.

"Agent Waller," he greeted with a slight hint of worry in his voice. Being summoned by Amanda Waller was rarely a good thing.

"Agent Weasley, I need you to pay a visit to Metropolis, Kansas to investigate something for me. I suspect that there is a wizard. Find out everything about him that you can."

If anything, that worried the wizard even more. That was not exactly the kind of work he dealt with best.

"Understood," Percy replied obediently. Even if he was worried, he knew better than to question his superior's orders.

"Dismissed," Amanda Waller said, looking away from him.

Neither one of them had any idea what would come of the trip.

* * *

Author's Note: It should go without saying that I'm not pleased by this chapter. But after five weeks and one day of not updating, I felt that I needed to get something out. Even if that something was crap.

I've had one hell of a time trying to put together this chapter. It's been a while since I've been hit with a block quite this hard. Because of that, I can't even give an estimated release date for the next chapter.

I will, however, say that I have a plan to get over my writer's block. Some will like it and some won't. Let's just say that sometimes to get over writer's block, you have to write something else. And I must say that I'm a much bigger fan of Arrow than Smallville.

Thanks for reading.


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